Monday, April 30, 2012

Can you believe it's the end of April? Neither can I. It's certainly been a busy month and over the past few days I've featured billboard round-ups for TV, movies and fashion around L.A. and today it's the turn of the best of the rest lifestyle billboard ads.

Drinks billboards

With Cinco de Mayo looming on the horizon, I couldn't help but kick off this round-up with a few tequila brand billboards. It seems like it's all about the bottle design and they are clearly the heroes in these ads for Deleon and Don Julio tequilas.

Next up is an an for the low calorie Voli Vodka. Who knew you had to worry about calories when it came to drinking cocktails, maybe that's where I've been going wrong all these years.

Meanwhile Bacardi is celebrating 150 years of starting parties with its new billboard.

It looks like its not the only drink with some heritage, as this Victoria beer is apparently Mexico's oldest beer being brewed since 1865.

Speaking of beer, the new SmithHouse Tap & Grill in Century City has over 120 different types on tap. Being a non-beer drinker I won't be rushing there, but I do like this special extension billboard for the venue along Santa Monica Boulevard.

Finally for beverages, I'm exactly sure why I'm supposed to 'enjoy more madness' with Coke Zero (maybe it's all those 'natural' ingredients), but as this variant is my cola of choice these days I had to include it.

Food billboards

Ben & Jerry's have brought out a whole new raft of Greek Frozen Yogurt varieties and this Banana Peanut Butter billboard is the first I've seen. If you like this fun ad, be sure to check these other Ben & Jerry's ice-cream billboards from around L.A. last year.

This simple billboard for Fresh Brothers made me smile. Seems like there's an app for everything these days, even pizza.

Technology billboards

Those folks at Blackberry are doing everything they can to try and sell handsets these days in the face of tough competition, even getting Porsche to design a super-sleek model (no doubt with matching expensive price tag).

Meanwhile, Samsung is having a fantastic time at the moment having just taken over from Nokia as the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones. This billboard for the Galaxy Note may have a fun tagline, but it's not especially exciting otherwise.

Apple debuted their new ad campaign for the new iPad this month and I love them. They are bright, colourful and sharp, really helping to sell the new high definition benefits of their latest tablet. Be sure to check out many more creatives from the iPad2012 ad campaign at my Daily Billboard Blog.

Magazine billboards

This arresting billboard for the launch of Summary, a new online magazine for arts, fashion and film, really stood out with its interesting visual.

Car billboards

This cool Audi R8 GT reminds me of the BMW concept car from Mission: Impossible 4 which caught my eye (and I'm not even a car person). I think the speed tyre marks on the ground are a nice touch in this simple ad.

Cause related billboards

This clever billboard is to help the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center support California's FAIR Education Act in order to fight the anti-LGBT extremists who want to stop gay history being taught in schools.

And this next sporty billboard which appeared in my local West Hollywood neighbourhood has a special place in my heart as it's for my own endurance training team, T2: Team to End AIDS, who helped me complete two L.A. Marathons.

I'm not usually a fan of religion, but it works for Madonna soif you want to discover the secret of the power of Kabbalah, now's the time.

Theme park and tourist attractions billboards

Another place you'd probably never find me is at a ye olde Renaissance Pleasure Faire, but as you know I am quite partial to a good special extension billboard.

Universal Studios Hollywood have been teasing their new Transformers 3D ride in April. I popped along to the theme park the other day to check out the latest movie costumes and props on display and took an early ride on the sci-fi attraction. I have to say I wasn't overly impressed and am so pleased I didn't stand in line for hours to ride it. If you're a fan of the films you'll probably love it, but otherwise it's just more of the same and I much prefer The Simpsons simulatorride or the Spider-man ride in Florida.

And finally I know my niece and nephew will appreciate this fun meerkat billboard for the San Diego Zoo's play days event.

So is that enough billboards for you this month? There's always so much to see and do here, but L.A.'s skies really were crammed with billboard ads in April.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

April saw the skies of L.A. not only filled with a vast raft of TV and movie billboards, but also a whole new collection of fashion and beauty ads.

Fashion and beauty billboards

What better way to kick off this fashion round-up than with some L.A. Style, courtesy of this Herb Ritts billboard for his exhibition at The Getty Center. I've been a fan of his photography ever since I saw his visually spectacular late-90's work for Absolut Vodka.

There was certainly lots of eye candy along the Sunset Strip this month, not only for Calvin Klein's latest hot new swimwear range, but also for Ippolita designer jewelry, using this cheeky billboard to attract attention.

Another beach-themed billboard which has been around for a while is this Wildfox Couture ad, which catches your eye with a pop of pink.

Chanel's surf-inspired billboard for its Allure Home Eau Extreme fragrance features a double-hit of hot pro surfer Danny Fuller to lure your eye.

Meanwhile for her, Gucci has a fresh new Flora The Garden fragrance collection to lift your spirits this Spring.

Sunglasses are not just fashion accessories in L.A., but everyday essentials in the California sunshine, and Prada debuted another stylish billboard creative for their retro eyewear range this month.

Not to be outdone, Salvatore Ferragamo also had this poolside creative to promote their fashionable eyewear range too.

Burberry continued their latest campaign featuring actor Eddie Redmayne this month, with this new Burberry Brit creative (sheltering from the rain we've had this month with one of the fashion brand's signature trench coats).

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Not only were there lots of TV billboards around L.A. in April, but there was a real abundance of movie billboards lining the skies too. Check out this cool collection of the best super-sized and special extension film ads around town this month.

Movie billboards

First up have to be more billboards for The Avengers, featuring team-ups of The Hulk and Iron Man and Black Widow and Hawkeye, after all I did go toThe Avengers World Premiere in Hollywood this month.

Speaking of the star-spangled Sentinel of Liberty and the God of Thunder, looks like everyone wants to cash in on Earth's Mightiest Heroes this month, with a special Heroes Weekend planned on the Epix channel.

Not content with Marvel Heroes, they also have the latest Transformers: Dark of the Moon movie to promote.

The one thing that The Avengers movie does prove is that not all big screen comic book adaptations have to be dark, gritty and angst ridden, they can have a sense of humor and have a splash of colour (primarily green). Saying that, you can't help but get excited when you do see teasers for The Dark Knight Rises this Summer.

Someone else who has been teasing us these past two months is Sacha Baron Cohen, with cryptic teaser billboards for The Dictator, which didn't have any film title whatsoever on the creatives (like the golf version below).
So it's nice to see the comedy finally explaining itself a little and I just love the vibrant flag design of the latest billboards.

Speaking of comedies, the producer of Bridesmaids is obviously hoping lightning can strike twice with another wedding themed movie, this time The Five-Year Engagement starring Jason Segel and Emily Blunt.

Then there's another sequel of an over ten-year old franchise, which makes you wonder if Hollywood has run out of ideas. Do we really need a Men in Black 3? I wasn't that partial to the first offerings and I'm huge sci-fi fan.

On the other hand there's The Cabin in the Woods, which even though it languished in release date hell for three years, was still a refreshing take on the horror-fantasy slasher movie. The twisted cabin on the billboard creative says it all.

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton fans will rejoice when they see these billboards for their latest collaboration for the remake of the late 60's to early 70's TV gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows (although Depp as a quirky goth vampire is hardly a stretch for him).

Another big movie release in May is the big budget adaptation of the classic board game Battleship.

Throw in some invading aliens and suddenly you have the opportunity for a new sci-fi action blockbuster. Let's hope it doesn't get sunk without a trace though. Check out even more Battleship movie billboard creatives from around L.A. at Daily Billboard.

And then there's the cutest billboard around L.A. this month for Disney Nature's Chimpanzee. I know it's not very politically correct, but I always wanted my own chimp (it must have been all those black and white Tarzan movies from my youth), although an orangutan would do too.

Finally, I liked this collection of cool retro movie billboards for TCM's 2012 Classic Film Festival.

They are simple and colorful, yet evoke that old Hollywood glamour.

If you like all these, be sure to check out Daily Billboard every day to see all the latest blockbuster movie creatives from around L.A. and stay tuned in the coming days for even more cool billboard round-ups.